


It's Been a Minute Since I Called You

by winterschild



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Baker Harry Styles, Coping, Depressed Louis, Drama Teacher Louis Tomlinson, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Grief/Mourning, I don't know what to tag this, Kinda, Louis Tomlinson-centric, Love, M/M, Miscommunication, Niam if you squint, Sad with a Happy Ending, Song: Two of Us (Louis Tomlinson), Songfic, Strangers to Lovers, Teacher Louis Tomlinson, Voicemails, i'M SAD, it's 5 am, it's kinda implied, sadfic, this is kinda sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:29:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23767735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterschild/pseuds/winterschild
Summary: “Hi, mum.  It’s been a minute since I called ya.  I know you won’t get this, but I’m going to leave a message anyway.” He didn’t want to feel alone.In order to cope with grief, Louis has been paying for his mum's phone so he can leave her voicemails to calm him down.  One day, when he forgets to pay her bill, the number disconnects and is later given to Harry Styles, a baker with a kind heart.  On a drunken night, Louis leaves another voicemail, but how will Harry respond to this man, who sounds so broken?ORThis is a self-indulgent, Louis centric fic about grief and a very kind person who takes concern for the small Doncaster boy with a somewhat broken heart.  Based on the song "Two of Us" by Louis TomlinsonEDIT: Added on a bit of an epilogue
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 8
Kudos: 111





	It's Been a Minute Since I Called You

Louis patiently waited for the phone to ring. He wasn’t expecting anyone to pick up; he hadn’t expected anyone to pick up in over a month, so he waited patiently. After several rings, the phone finally let out a dial tone, a robotic voice telling him that, unfortunately, he reached the voicemail.

Warmth spread through his bones when the comforting voice finally spoke through the speakers, “ _Hi, you've reached the voicemail of Jay Deakin. I’m sorry I missed your call, but if you leave your name and number, I’ll ring you back as soon as possible._ ” Beep.

_“Hi, mum. It’s been a minute since I called ya. I know you won’t get this, but I’m going to leave a message anyway.”_ He didn’t want to feel alone. “ _It’s been a particularly hard day at work today. We are currently putting on a production of ‘The Little Mermaid,’ and I had to cast the leads today. You know that one girl, Stacy, I told you about that’s always stuck-up? Well, I didn’t give her the lead because this other girl, Martha, is insanely talented, and Stacy got pissed at me. Oh well, I know it’ll be okay._

 _“Well, I just called to say I miss you. And I love you. I’m taking it day-by-day. Talk soon. Love you.”_ Louis hung up the phone, placing it on the coffee table, before standing and making his way to the kitchen to make himself some dinner before he got to grading assignments.

~

Beep. “ _Hi, you've reached the voicemail of Jay Deakin. I’m sorry I missed your call, but if you leave your name and number, I’ll ring you back as soon as possible._ ” Beep.

_“Hello, mum. Sorry it’s been a while. I woke up this morning and I could’ve sworn you were there with me. I dreamt of you last night; you were in the kitchen making Christmas cookies with Daisy and Phoebe. When I went over to Dan’s this morning, I almost swore you were gonna be there. You weren’t._

_“You’ll never know how much I miss you, mum. Sometimes I just wish they would’ve taken me instead._

_“Lottie misses you, and so do Daisy and Pheebes. I don’t think Doris and Ernie really understand it, but I promise we’ll never let them forget you. Anyway, I best be going now. Lots will have my head if I’m late for my own birthday dinner. You’d figure I could be late to my own party. Love you and talk soon.”_

Louis made his way to the guest bedroom in Dan’s house to change his clothes for dinner that night. As he made his way there, he spent extra long staring at the pictures on the wall.

~

Louis paused before adjusting his hair in the mirror. He was nervous as all hell, considering this was the first date he had been on in a while. Moving to London had really messed up his dating life; he was so focused on making sure his family was alright, the girls’ schooling was paid for, adjusting to his new school, and taking care of his new flat to remember to go out and have a social life, let alone a romantic one.

He took a moment to assess his appearance. He wore a blue button-up; his friend Niall always said it really brought out the blue in his eyes. Looking back in the mirror, he saw his mother in his eyes. Everyone always said they could tell he was his mother’s son. He could see it; he could feel her blood run through him.

Louis pulled out his phone, the nerves getting the best of him.

The dial tone rang six times. “ _Hi, you've reached the voicemail of Jay Deakin. I’m sorry I missed your call, but if you leave your name and number, I’ll ring you back as soon as possible._ ” Beep.

“ _Hi mum, I’ve got a date to get to, so this’ll be a fast one. Just wanted to tell you I love you and I know you’re looking down on me tonight. Love you and talk soon.”_

~

Beep. “ _Hi, you've reached the voicemail of Jay Deakin. I’m sorry I missed your call, but if you leave your name and number, I’ll ring you back as soon as possible._ ” Beep.

“ _Hello, mum. I got a new tattoo today. It’s the chorus of that one song you really like. I put it on my ribs. I was going to do it on my chest, but the placement fit kind of weird with my other chest piece. Thinking of you every day. I love you and miss you. Talk soon.”_

~

Louis came into his flat, slamming the door behind him, not even bothering locking it. He was pissed, to say the least. It had been an all-around shit day. The kids at school had been especially rowdy, as they should’ve been—it was a half-day after all. His date night with Tyler had been a complete disaster, and the only thing he could think to do was pull out his phone.

“ _Hi, you've reached the voicemail of Jay Deakin. I’m sorry I missed your call, but if you leave your name and number, I’ll ring you back as soon as possible._ ” Beep.

_“Hi. It’s been a horrible day. I’m missing you especially today. Tyler and I broke up, today, mum. I hope you aren’t too disappointed. If it makes you feel better, Lottie didn’t think we were going to last long anyway.  
“He told me it was weird that I pay for your phone just so I can leave you voicemails. I guess he just doesn’t understand—both his parents are still very much alive and very much together. Lots sometimes question why I do it too, but I just like hearing your answering machine._

_“I’ll just take it day-by-day like you always say. Alright. I love and miss you. Talk soon.”_

Louis let out a sigh, running his hand over his face before planting himself onto the couch, flicking on the television and throwing on a re-run of _Gogglebox_. He responded to a text from Niall, and then one from Lottie, assuring them both he was fine. It had only been a two-month relationship and he wasn’t that into Tyler anyway.

~

It had been a long week for Louis. It was midterms week at school, as well as the week for the school production he had directed for first semester. They had performed five shows over the course of the week, and Louis had been so exhausted. He also had to cancel his credit card and make a trip to the bank to get a new one because of fraudulent activity; that had been only one of the many minor inconveniences to add to the stress. On top of that, he had helped Lottie move to London, which had only taken up more time. What was worse was on top of his tiredness, a nagging feeling kept creeping up on him, making him feel like he had been forgetting something all week.

Louis walked straight for his bedroom; the sun had set hours before and he was ready to drift into sleep like it was nobody’s business. The only good thing from this week was a new bakery had opened down the street, and, although it was always busy, it was quite spectacular. He would definitely be making more stops to the bakery on his daily commutes to work.

After the long week he had, Louis decided that he earned a call to his mum. It really had been a while this time, so he picked up the phone, quickly dialling her number.

His blood froze in his veins—there was no dial tone. It was an instant line cut and a deep, robotic voice on the other side of the call.

_“I’m sorry. Your call cannot be completed as dialled. This number has been disconnected. Goodbye.”_

“No.” Louis let his phone drop from his hand and to the floor. The phone bill. It was attached to his credit card—the one that had been cancelled. He forgot to switch it over. “No. No. No. NO! Fuck! FUCK!” That was the only thing he had. That was it. There was no getting it back. 

No.

~

Louis stumbled into his apartment, completely sloshed, with an equally drunk Niall following in behind him. They were celebrating the end of the school year, so Niall suggested getting wasted at their favourite bar—well, Niall’s favourite bar. He had a massive crush on the bartender, Liam, so he somehow convinced Louis to always chose that pub.

“I’m just gonna pass out on your couch, ‘right?” Niall yawned, falling into the couch face first, almost instantly knocked out. Even in his drunken haze, Louis managed to grab a water bottle from the fridge, the bottle of Ibuprofen, and a bucket, placing them on the table next to Niall.

He then retreated to his bedroom, stripping himself from his clothes down to his pants. Despite it being the end of the school year, it had been a difficult couple of weeks. What would’ve been his mum’s birthday passed the week previous, so he spent several days in Doncaster with his family, visiting her resting place. While seeing his family had been pleasant, it brought up the pain he had faced during that time. Even after all this time, well over a year, he still tried to maintain strength in front of his siblings. The only one who had really seen him crash was Lottie, but that was because she had to drag him from several bars after their mum’s death.

He was missing his mum terribly tonight. Without much thought, he grabbed his cell, easily dialling in the number. He hadn’t dialled the number, he thinks, in well over five months. When he didn’t get automatically redirected to a dial tone, Louis thought nothing of it. After it rang six times, he waited for the robotic voice to tell him to leave a message after the beep.

Beep.

“ _Hi, mum. I just wanted to call to tell you how much I fucking mi—miss you. It’s been fuck-_ hiccup _-ing hard these past couple weeks. Your birthday was last week. ‘m sorry I didn’t call; ‘m a shit son. We all miss you so much, mum._

 _“I went out with—with Niall tonight to celebrate the end of the school year. Wish you could’ve been here. It’s been very-_ hiccup- _hard recently.”_ Louis tried to keep his voice down, not wanting to wake Niall, but his heart was hurting so much. _“I wish it would all just stop. ‘m crying like a little pussy right now; it’s stupid, I know. ‘m sorry. I know I promised you I’d do this. All of this is all for you. I swear to God, mum, you’re living in everything I do. I just don’t wanna fail-_ hiccup- _fail you. It’s so hard without you here._

_“You told me to live day-by-day; I know and ‘m trying. Sometimes I ask God why he didn’t take me instead, mum. He should’ve taken me instead. I wish he would’ve. I wish we could swap places. ‘m not worth as much as you were, mum._

_“Imma do it though, mum, for you. ‘m living one life for the two of us. I love you—so much. Night mum._ ” Louis hung up the phone, flopping onto his bed gracefully (not), letting his phone slip to the ground. It was only a few minutes before he was caught in a deep slumber.

~

When Louis woke the next morning, he had little recollection from the night before. After showering and ordering in breakfast on GrubHub for him and Niall, the two boys began their annual binge-fest. At the end of a school year, ever since University, Niall and Louis would sit in their pyjamas all day on the first day of summer break and find a new series to binge-watch on Netflix. It was Niall’s year to choose, so he passed the remote over to his Irish mate and strapped in for a relaxing day.

When the clock hit six in the evening, with little to show for a productive day, Niall bid Louis goodbye, telling him he was planning on meeting up with some friends who were in town. Louis began to clean up the mess from the day, putting away the takeaway containers with leftover food in the fridge. 

Louis’ phone began ringing, causing him to jump in surprise before he made his way over to the device. Although casual before, Louis’ heart was now in his throat. He recognized the number on his screen—it was his mum’s. Shakily, and after much consideration, Louis hit the accept button; once he had answered the phone, the blurry memory of an unclear voicemail popped to in his head and his anxiety rose.

“Uhm, hello,” a deep, soothing voice started. Louis felt relaxed by the voice, regardless if this man shared the same number as his deceased mum.

“Uh, hi. Can I help you?” Maybe playing dumb will hopefully cover the embarrassment that he is sure was conveyed last night in his drunken stupor.

There was a cough—a deep cough—and a hesitant voice. “Yes, uhm, my name’s Harry. You called me last night—rather this morning. And you left a voicemail. I was quite concerned when I heard it this morning, and I just wanted to call and let you know that you had the wrong number.”

“Oh, yes. I’m sorry about that. If it hadn’t made it clear I was proper wasted last night. I really don’t remember it, but I’m sorry for whatever I said. I hope I didn’t bother you too much.”

“Not at all, actually, no bother at all. I actually wanted to call and ask how you were? Like I said, it left me quite concerned. You seemed pretty down, so I just wanted to check on you.”

This caused a chuckle to leave Louis. “You don’t even know me, Harold. I’m a complete stranger.”

“A complete stranger who called this number at three in the morning sobbing,” Harry giggled, although Louis could tell the tone was laced with concern.

“Well, thank you, Harry. I am doing better today, that’s for sure. I’ve just been going through some stuff. No need to worry but thank you. Your kindness is appreciated.”

There was a bit of silence, almost like the person on the other end was trying to craft a perfect response. Louis was just about to bid the stranger goodbye before the deep voice came through the speakers interrupting him, “I don’t know if you’d be interested, so feel free to say no. My mum always taught me to treat people with kindness, and one of the best ways I’ve always been able to do that is with sweets. I own a bakery in London—I figured you were from the area with your area code. It’s called Sweet Styles. If you’d like, I can offer you a free cupcake, or any sweet of your choosing.” 

“Well, that’s very kind of you. Thank you. I’ll think about it.” Louis knew that bakery very well; it was the one he stopped in every morning to grab a tea and a pastry before school.

“If you decide to come in, just tell whosever there that Harry sent you and you’d like to leave a voicemail.” This caused Louis to giggle like a schoolgirl; a blush might’ve warmed his cheeks at the joke.

“Will do, thank you, Harry. You’ve made my day much better.”

“You’re welcome…”

“Louis,” he supplied.

“You’re welcome, Louis. Hope to see you.” Then the stranger hung up. Despite the embarrassment that came with leaving a grovelling voicemail to a practical stranger at a very early hour, he didn’t feel bad about it. He actually felt relieved at the nice words and the offer for a free cupcake. Louis sat on the couch, a smile wide of his face.

~

Two days after the phone call with a stranger called Harry, Louis stood in front of the bakery down the street from his flat. He looked up at the pastel sign that read “Sweet Styles,” before sucking in a breath and opening the door.

Louis was hit with the smell of freshly baked goods and sugar. There was a hint of vanilla in the air as well, and Louis’ mind was floating happily. The shop was surprisingly not busy, but it was ten in the morning, and most people were at work at this time. The only other person who seemed to occupy the shop was a girl stood behind the counter, seemingly filling out a supply form.

The Doncaster boy approached the counter, smiling at the girl when she finally looks up at him, returning the smile. He offered a small wave, giving one of the glass cases a once over to see what the specials for that day were. He had seen the girl a few times, and there is no doubt that she recognized him by now.

“Good morning, sir, a Yorkshire tea for you with a dash of milk?” the girl offered. Of course, she had his order memorized.

“Actually, uhm,” Louis hesitated. He was now painfully aware that the stranger on the phone could’ve been lying to him about owning this bakery, and Louis’ anxiety rose. “Uhm, Harry sent me? And I’d like to leave a voicemail?”

Recognition seemed to take over the young girl’s features, and a smile instantly made its way to her face. She giggled, then giddily responded, “Of course! Just give me a second.” The girl then turned around, pushing open a door to what Louis assumed was the kitchen, disappearing behind the door.

Louis was anxiously bouncing his leg when the swinging door opened again, but it wasn’t the girl who emerged. No, Louis was taken aback because a tall, attractive bloke appeared, and all Louis could do was hope that this was Harry. The man was tall, as mentioned, but he was also sinfully attractive. He had a mature face, but younger than himself. His jawline was sharp but soft, lined lightly with some stubble that matched that above his lips. His lips were beautiful; they were a light pink, shaped as perfect as Cupid’s bow. Even his nose was perfect, leading up to a strong brow line that seemed to have a permanent crease between them. His eyes were stunning: Green. Sparkling and forest green, which seemed to be speckled with grey and yellow. What really captured Louis’ attention was the man’s hair: It was jaw-length chocolate curls, several of which fell onto his forehead and into his eyes. 

Louis’ hopes were confirmed when the man rounded the counter, his hand stuck out, and that beautiful, deep voice spoke out, “Hi, I’m Harry Styles.” Louis reached out, allowing his hand to be engulfed by Harry’s massive one; Louis took the time to admire the several rings adorned on the man’s hands. “And, you must be Louis?”

It took a beat too long for Louis to respond. “Yes, I am. Hi. It’s so good to meet you.” Nobody could blame Louis’ stuttering if they had been up close to the man in front of him. His voice made his knees wobble.

“Great. I didn’t know if you would actually come in. Let me get you a treat from the case. Want to sit and we can chat for a bit?” Louis nodded, looking around to find a place to sit. Harry made his way behind the counter again, grabbing a raspberry scone from the case, and taking the tea that the girl from earlier had started to make—when did she even get back out here?

After Harry had grabbed a treat for Louis and himself, he sat down across from Louis at one of the many small tables in the shop. He passed the tea and treat over to Louis before taking a bite of his own scone. Louis didn’t know what to say because, honestly, how does one begin a conversation with an attractive stranger about your dead mother and drunk calling?

Luckily for Louis, it was Harry that broke the silence. “So, how are you, Louis? Any better from the other day?”

“Actually, I’m doing pretty good, thanks for asking. I’ve just been enjoying some much-needed time off, really.”

“You’re a teacher, right? So you must be on summer break. That’s what it seemed like in your voicemail; you seem a little too old to be in school yourself, it seems.”

Louis nodded, his face flushing. “Yeah, I’m a drama teacher. It’ll be nice to have a little break from the kids. I love my job, but it can get really stressful.” Harry smiled, and Louis just about passed out because the man had dimples. As if this man couldn’t get any more perfect, he whacks out _dimples_. “I want to apologize for that night again, by the way. I really am quite embarrassed, especially since I can’t remember everything I said.”

“No, you don’t have to apologize, Louis. It really is okay.”

“It really isn’t. It must’ve been so weird to wake up to a voicemail from this random number sobbing about how horribly wrong this person’s life seemed to be going.” Louis was laughing, but he knows that the situation isn’t really funny. “You see, your phone number once belonged to my mum. I wasn’t calling the wrong number; that number is honestly the only one that I probably have memorized at this point.” Louis looked down at his fidgeting hands, shocking himself that he was about to pour his heart to this random baker. 

“My mum passed away over a year ago now. For the longest time, I paid her phone bill after her death so I could call her when I wanted to hear her answering machine. It was more for reassurance so I could hear her voice again. About five months ago, my credit card information got stolen, which is the credit card the phone bill was under, and I forgot to switch it over to the new card because I was in the middle of one of my worst weeks in a while. By the time I remembered, the number was already disconnected, and I lost the number. And then you got it.”

Louis looked up, nervous to meet Harry’s eyes. However, he was shocked to find sincere care in Harry’s beautiful eyes. Harry spoke, “I’m sorry to hear about your mum, Louis. That couldn’t have been an easy thing to get over. And I’m sorry the number got disconnected.” Louis’ heart swelled from the genuineness of Harry’s tone.

“Honestly, it’s probably healthy that the number got disconnected. My ex-boyfriend and I broke up over it because he said it was an unhealthy coping mechanism. Sometimes I can’t help but think he was right.”

“No, I think it’s completely healthy. If it calmed you down, it’s the same as praying to a God or going to a cemetery,” Harry reasoned; Louis blushed. “This makes your voicemail make so much more sense, really. I appreciate you being so honest. I really am sorry about your mum. My stepdad, who was like another father to me, passed away recently as well, and it hasn’t been easy. I would kill to hear his voice again as well.” The conversation was easy from there between Louis and Harry. Louis told Harry about his career as a drama teacher, and how he loved working with children. He slipped in stories about his many siblings, and how amazing his mum was. Harry talked about his life of owning one of London’s biggest up-and-coming bakeries, and how his family helped get him started in the big city. The two seemed to get on like two best friends, even though Louis was unaware of Harry’s existence until two days ago. It felt natural and so right, and Louis couldn’t help but be grateful that he forgot to switch over his credit card information to pay for his mum’s phone.

After a couple of hours had passed, the bakery began picking up business, and Harry told Louis he should probably join the girl back behind the counter. Louis stood, a smile evident on his face.

“Thank you, for everything, Harry. This has been a wonderful morning.”

Harry giggled, “The pleasure is all mine. Thank you for taking me up on my offer. I’ve loved getting to talk to you.” Without thinking too much into it, Louis embraced Harry, who instantly melted into the hug. They stayed that way for a minute, and Louis basked in Harry’s warmth.

When the two boys pulled away, they stared at each other for a minute longer, before Harry threw his thumb back to the counter, “I really should be getting back to work. It was a pleasure, again, Louis.”

“Yeah, thank you, Harry. Hope to see you around,” Louis declared. With one last smile, Louis turned away, keeping his eyes focused on his feet as he bit his bottom lip. Just as Louis was about to push the door open, he heard his name called.

Louis turned around, finding Harry in front of him once again. Harry began, “I hope I’m not speaking out of bounds, and I apologize if I am, but I want you to know that I have a feeling you are making your mum extremely proud.” Tears instantly began to build behind Louis’ eyes. “And as sad as I am that God took your mum from you and your family at such a young age, I’m really happy that you’re here living one life for the both of you. I think your mum would agree that you’re worth it; all of it.” Tears were freely falling over Louis’ cheeks, but he was pretty sure they were happy tears. “That’s all I wanted to say.” Harry smiled once more, before turning back towards the counter.

Before he could get far, Louis placed a hand on his shoulder, turning him around and engulfing him in one more hug. As he pulled away, Louis felt that he couldn’t just walk away from the man in front of him. Something told him, deep inside, that there was a reason it was this man who got his mum’s number. Something had led him to call back a number that hadn’t been in service for five months, and when he did, it was Harry that he called.

So Louis went for it. “Thank you for saying that. I know that if my mum were here, she’d smack me if I didn’t say anything. So, this time, if I’m speaking out of bounds, I apologize, but Harry, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go out to dinner with me? Like as a date?”

Harry’s shoulders dropped in relief and a smile took over his face, “I would love nothing more.”

~

It was cold as Louis departed from his car, taking in the area around him; it was December, so it was no surprise he was bundled in his big coat. He closed the door to the Range Rover and began walking to his destination, the snow crunching lightly beneath his trainers. He stuffed his hands in his pocket, hoping to avoid frostbite, but it was no help for his exposed cheeks—of course, he forgot his scarf, he always forgot his scarf.

He arrived at his destination, warmth filling his body, causing a disregard for the weather around him. Ignoring the snow on the ground, Louis plopped down, reaching a hand out to touch the stone in front of him softly.

“Hi, mum.” Despite the pressure building behind his eyes, Louis felt calm and happy. He didn’t try to stop the tears—no, that wasn’t necessary. He had been reminded by his boyfriend time after time that tears were not weak and that it was important to show emotion, so he did. “I hope everything’s alright up there; I know you’ve been looking down.

“I’m sorry it’s been so long since I visited—shit, it must’ve been like 8 months now, innit? I haven’t been able to get up to Donny as much as I would’ve liked in the past 8 months, but I’m here now. I came to see you first; the family’ll just have to wait to see me—you’re the most important.”

Memories were playing through his head as he basked in the silence; he could feel her there with him. “God, I’m so happy, mum. I wish you could be here. London is amazing, and the people there are just as good. And then there’s Harry, mum. You would love him; I just know you would. He’s charming, and caring, and kind. He’s a baker, coincidently, so at least you know I’m being fed well and not just having a cuppa and Pot Noodle for every meal.” Louis chuckled to himself a bit. Harry was around more often than not, and he always had dinner waiting for him when Louis got home from a long day of play practice.

“I promised you I’d do this—be happy and follow my dreams. I just hope you know all of this is all for you, mum—all of it, but I think I’m finally doing it for myself too. I’ll always hold you where my heart is. I think I’m finally living a worthy life—a life worthy to live one for the two of us.” Louis sat in silence again, looking at the stone tranquilly. After a few moments passed, he felt cloth being wrapped around him, and he instinctively pulled it around him, finding it was a blanket.

“Jesus, Lou! You didn’t give me enough time to grab the blanket before you ran off—you’re gonna freeze to death otherwise out here, love,” Harry pestered, sitting down next to Louis and wrapping his arms around him tightly. “You’d think it wasn’t fucking the middle of December and snow was on the ground with the way you’re running around.”

“Harry,” Louis laughed, “I have a coat on.”

“Sure, you say that now. Just don’t get all pouty when you get ill.” Harry pressed a kiss to his cheek sweetly, warming up the spot, before resting his head on Louis’ shoulder. “I don’t know how you put up with him, Jay. So, this must be the amazing Jay Deakin that gave me my wonderful and stupid boyfriend.”

Louis’ heart warmed. “Yeah. Mum, this was the amazing Harry I was just telling you about.”

“Hm, you tell her about me often then, do ya?” Harry snuggled closer. “I’m flattered. It can’t be easy to impress her when she’s got a son like you. I can’t wait to hear all the stories about her and your family over the next couple of weeks.” The couple had come to spend a couple of weeks in Doncaster this year for the holiday—Louis was on winter break and Harry left his employees in charge for a bit so he could take some much-deserved time off. It would be the first Christmas Harry and Louis would spend together; it was the first birthday celebration they would get to have; it was the first year that Jay’s death anniversary had passed, and Harry had held Louis close the entire day, trying his best to distract him or indulge in his stories—whatever he was feeling up to.

So, yeah, Louis was happy. Louis was so incredibly happy, and he silently thanked his forgetfulness. As much as he missed hearing his mum’s answering machine, none of this would’ve been possible otherwise. When his guardian angel had been taken from him, she was replaced by another in the form of Harry as she watched him from above. And Louis truly promised that he would live one life for the two of them.

If you liked this, please feel free to reblog on [tumblr](https://givemelarrylikeher.tumblr.com/post/621913718469672961/its-been-a-minute-since-i-called-you)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for making it through my fic! I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> I wrote this instead of studying for my finals. It is currently 5 in the morning but I just had this idea in my head for the past few days so I thought I'd get it out.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, feel free to drop a kudos, bookmark it for later, or leave a comment. This is a work of fiction and I do not own any characters or their life stories.
> 
> Stay safe, wash your hands, and treat people with kindness.
> 
> ~winterschild


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